The Spine

The 5 sections of the spine:

• The cervical spine makes up the neck and has 7 vertibrae.
• The thoracic spine has 12 vertibrae which the ribs attach to.
• The lumbar spine has 5 which make the lower back.
• The sacrum consists of 5 bones which are fused or stuck together and the coccyx is made up of 4 tiny bones and used to be a tail.

Intervertibral Discs

Each vertibrae is separated by intervertibral discs which are flexible cartilage discs. These allow movement in the spine and have a shock absorbing or cushioning function as well.

Each disc is made up of two parts, a tougher fibrous outside and a central substance called nucleus pulposus. When a disc is damaged (or prolapsed) it is the squidgy liquid in the middle which often squeezes out putting pressure on the spinal cord causing pain.

External links:

• Low back pain - information on low back pain from sportsinjuryclinic.net.
  
  
• Slipped disc / sciatica - pain radiating down the leg explained on sportsinjuryclinic.net.

• Football boots - from Wynsport.com. Buy discount boots online.
  
  
• Lumbar Rolls - Return2fitness.co.uk for lumbar support roles.

 

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Test yourself:

• The spine revision flash cards
  
  
• Download your own skeleton picture to label
  
  
• Joints, tendons, ligaments and bones online quiz
  
  

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